Friday, February 8, 2013

4am, god I can’t stand staring into the darkness any longer.
Time to get up; the excitement is too much for me.By 430am I had packed my backpack and
re-checked I had our passports and tickets and now to wake the girls up. And
what a better way to get the blood pumping, two pans bashed together “bang bang
bang” “bang bang bang” . Two kids sat straight up with their heads swinging
from side to side like two Meerkats sticking their heads out holes and having a
look around. There were a few colourful words used, as I walked away giggling
to myself.

Toot Toot, our lift was here, hurry girls. My brother works
in Sydney and offered us a free lift, but we would be an extra hour early.
Which I didn’t mind as it has saved me a small fortune in airport transfers.

Once at the airport we checked in we had no checked luggage but
the women insisted we weigh our hand luggage, Miss G was just pushing 7 kilo
and both Miss C and I only had 5 Kilos, passed immigration and grabbed
something to eat and waited at our gate for our flight to Kuala Lumpur.

I have decided to leave my laptop at home and jot down notes
in a book. My IPod and phone both have internet capability and suit my needs
and weighed a lot less.

Our flight was coming to an end with the captain coming over
the intercom asking to cabin crew to get ready for landing at LCCT. I sat
peering out the window but the thick cloud was making it hard. Just then like a
magician yanking a cloth off to reveal a mysterious treasure beneath the clouds
parted and presto there’s Malaysia.I
was soon disappointed to see what I thought was jungle was lines and lines and
miles upon miles of palm trees. I sat wondering to myself is this all for palm
oil.

Once we landed it was the mile walk to the terminal, we
cleared immigration with-in minutes of entering the terminal. Just after
immigration we took the escalator to the ground floor where the Tune Talk
shop/stall is located. I had pre-purchased 3 sim cards with our ticket. I also
recharged these with 15 MR on each card. The 15 MR recharge lasted for our time
in Malaysia and we also used it in Singapore, so 15 MR goes a long way but we
were mainly texting Australia.

We left the terminal and turned left and walked towards Mc
Donald’s and followed the path around to the right where we found the Sky Bus
to KL Sentral. I had pre-purchased bus tickets with our airline tickets from
memory it was about $5.50 return per-person not too bad for a 100 km round trip.
The bus waited about 15 minutes then we were on our way to KL Sentral.

Once we arrived at KL Sentral we took the escalator up to
the first floor and saw a sign pointing left with LRT written on it. We went to
the ticket machine. “Oh, shit” I thought it’s in Malaysian, I know a fair bit
of Indonesian so I was slowly working it out. When Miss G said, dad what about
the English button, DOH! This made life a lot easier. I bought 3 tickets to
Pasar Seni for 3 MR which is then next stop. Once we got off the station we
were told to head to the Maybank on the corner and turn right and follow the
road to Petailing Street.

Our quest was then to find our Hotel Chinatown Inn which
wasn’t that hard. We checked-in and made our way to the 4th floor
and our room 409 a triple room. Consisting of a double bed and a single bed,
the room is very basic with a very small TV no fridge but it was air
conditioned and has free Wi-Fi. The bathroom was small you could brush your
teeth while showering on the toilet. But it was very clean and pretty quiet for its location. We
went back out to Petailing Street to find a quick snack and a drink, and then
back to the room and a shower and bed.

There goes the alarm 545am, hurry up and lets go. Most of
Petailing Street was shut up but some shops were still open especially the food
shops and one selling duck feet parcels, yum.We soon made it to Pasar Seni and catch the LRT to KLCC which cost 3.50
MR for the 3 of us.

The girls went wow when they saw the Petronas Towers and
had 2nd thoughts about wanting to go up them. Pushy dad wouldn’t
listen to them. We hurried in the door to find about 10 people in front of us
and it was 630 am. About 7am they let us inside to line up it a big long snake
line. About 730am a shop opened up so the girls and many others raced to get a
drink and crap to eat for breaky. About 8 am we were given a card assuring us 3
tickets. And at 830am we got in to purchase our tickets and select our time we
selected 7 pm sunset. I really think on-line booking would be so much better
and for the money they charge it’s pathetic to line up at a stupid hour of the
morning. My last visit was 2008 and was still the same stupid idea of lining up
but back then it was free.

Back on the LRT to Pasar Seni then we crossed the bridge to
a train station and took the KTM line to Batu Caves. It was 6MR for 3 people
one-way. We waited 15 minutes for the train. The trip took about 40 minutes;
the station is just a stone’s throw from the caves.

The Batu caves special edition havaianas.

We slowly wandered around as the midday heat and humidity
were stifling. It was time to start the trek up the 272 steps to the caves. We
took a slow walk up the steps and carefully dodged the monkeys. Once we reached
the top we quickly grabbed a bottle of water and drank it and rested for a few
minutes. Then we wandered around and looked at the statues around the first
part of the cave and then decided to head up the last lot of steps to the top
temple, were the Hindu Holy Man called us over for a blessing he said a small
prayer for Miss C and me before rubbing kumkum (white powder) on our foreheads.
It was time for us to start heading back to KL there was still a lot to see and
do.

Once we made it back down the stairs, Miss G spotted the henna
tattoo’s and like a shot was over there and when her sister and I finally
caught up she was looking at designs and couldn’t make up her mind so the lady
said I will do one free hand for you. Miss G agreed and 15 minutes later it was
done.

We started off toward the station to catch the train back to
KL Sentral. I stopped and bought a pretzel type thing I really have no idea
what it’s called but it tasted yummy.

Once back at KL Sentral we took the monorail to Bukit
Bintang and looked around a few shops, by this time it was late afternoon. We
jumped on the free bus that comes with free Wi-Fi, only to find out we got the
wrong bus by not all was lost as we got dropped off not far from Central Market
so we had a quick look around. Then walked back to our hotel, and felt just
slightly worn out.

We showered and got ready for part 2 of our massive day. We
grabbed a meal on Petailing Street and quickly made our way to Pasar Seni to
catch the LRT to KLCC for our 7pm date with the Petronas Towers.

We gathered at the entrance of the towers and passed by the
security check, and started our tour; we watched a short film on a smoke
background that one family who just thought it was funny to blow the smoke
making the rest of us miss the film. I guess there’s one idiot everywhere you
go. Once the film was finished red tags went one way and the blue tags went
another.We shot up to the 41st
floor at a fantastic speed and soon were on the Sky Bridge admiring the view.
It was raining slightly, my 2nd time on this bridge and both times
now its rained. But the view at dusk was wonderful and to watch the cities
lights turn on was a fantastic experience.

Soon we were ushered together to go up to the 86th floor. Wow we felt like we were in the clouds, talk
about high, I was blown away seeing a spider outside in its web. We enjoyed the
360 view and holding up our tickets in front of the TV screens to get info on
the towers.

Back down to KLCC station and on the LRT to Pasar Seni and
on to Petailing Street for a good look around. I found these markets a bit
overpriced and very tough to bargain with, we didn’t buy anything and saved our
money for Thailand.

We staggered into our hotel totally worn out. After the
massive day we have had, we enjoyed our time in KL.

7am and that alarm is rubbing me the wrong way. Time to pack
and get ready, Phuket here we come. We walked to Pasar Seni station lugging our
packs and caught the train to KL Sentral and stopped in Mc Donald’s for some
breaky, I do love the cold milo drinks and wish we had them at home, but my
waist would have other ideas. Once we had eaten we made our way to escalator
down to the Sky Bus parking bay, got on-board and took our seats. With-in 10
minutes we were on our way to LCCT. I sat by myself and the girls sat across
from me together sharing the IPod. While I stared out the window thinking how
much I love to travel, for me the destination is a bonus getting there is where
the adventure lies.

We self-checked-in and made our way past immigration found
our gate and waited for our flight. Soon we did a short walk across the tarmac
to our Air Asia plane to Phuket. The flight was good and quick and we landed in
Phuket about 1 hour and 15 minutes later.

We quickly departed the plane and got past immigration in
record time. Once out the terminal door we quickly turned left and changed $50
AUD for some Thai Baht. Then did the turn and headed to the other end of the
terminal building to the fixed price taxi stand, ignoring all the touts along
the way. I quickly secured a taxi and had to wait 5 minutes. This was a great
opportunity to rip the back off my phone and insert the free True Move sim I
was just given.The taxi arrived and we
bundled our packs into the boot and enjoyed cooling off in the a/c of the taxi.

The trip was great until we made it to the bendy hill into Patong where two
cars have had an accident, I said “nice brake foot Rhonda”, and the taxi driver
just looked at me with a confused look on his face. I just smiled.

The taxi stopped out front of Nicky’s Handle Bar; it was
great to be back in Patong again. Though I prefer Kata Beach, the girls don’t. So
this trip I caved in and decided to stay in Patong. The girls both went wow
once they found out we were staying here. We are bike people and both girls
help my brother out with his bike accessories business from time to time when
he goes to bike shows.

We booked in and were given room 211 the tattoo room on the
2nd floor, we just started to settle in when we received a phone
call asking if we wanted to swap room to a ground floor room. Yes please I said
and with that we gathered our stuff and moved to room 104 Nicky’s handle bar room.
All the rooms are themed and I love the use of tools and engine parts around
the hotel.

We had a walk around town and headed back for an afternoon
swim at the hotel. Later we freshened up. I needed to get some washing done. I
walked across the road and under the big arch for Andaman Beach Suites Hotel
and past Beauty land on the right to take the first turn left and a couple of
shops down is the nicest lady who does washing for 50 THB a kilo. We walked
back to the big arch and had dinner in a small street side restaurant on the
left which was cheap and yummy and all for 200THB for 3 people.

We walked to the beach road and to Jindas shop and grabbed a
few things, but I found the stuff a bit cheaper to start off with but I managed
to get better prices bargaining hard in other shops or markets. We headed to
Bangla road for a drink and to giggle at the sights there was a really shitty smell on Bangla road and most of the drains are covered with thick mats. Later we walked home and
grabbed a banana pancake, which was very yummy but a little too fatty.

About me

Chronic travel nut, who wants to see as much of this wonderful world as I can. As a child I have visited many countries and I have lived in the UK twice. As an adult I'm slowly making my way around Asia, for now.

2 Lost Aussies

Check out 2 Lost Aussies as we travel around Australia in our campervan